The Boyband Murder Mystery

by Ava Eldred

'I have long believed that loving a boyband brings with it a wealth of transferable skills, but I'd never imagined solving a murder would be one of them...'

Harri and her best friends worship Half Light - an internationally famous boyband. When frontman Frankie is arrested on suspicion of murdering his oldest friend Evan, Harri feels like her world's about to fall apart. But quickly she realises that she - and all the other Half Light superfans out there - know and understand much more about these boys than any detective ever could.

Now she's rallying a fangirl army to prove Frankie's innocence - and to show the world that you should never underestimate a teenage girl with a passion...

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Music

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2021

About the author

Ava Eldred was born in London, and has spent much of the last decade writing and developing stage musicals, as well as producing large scale theatrical concerts. Her work has been performed both in London and internationally. She is a recent alumna of Faber Academy's Writing a Novel course, and a life-long fan of boybands.

Reviews

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written, gripping and so true to the experience of throwing yourself into loving a band or a book or a film and building something beautiful around it! I don’t read a lot of contemporary but this was the perfect chaser after recently reading One Of Us Is Lying.

[Dervla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boyband Murder Mystery is a book about love but not in the way you might expect.

Everyone at some point in their life has loved something with the intensity of a teenage girl, but not everyone was brave enough to admit it. This book is about those of us who were. Those of us who sought out every picture, cut out every article, examined every tweet, every photo, until we decidedly knew way too much about our object of fannish affection.

For our protagonist, Harri, that affection is all directed towards international boyband Half Light and its lead singer, Frankie Williams who has just been arrested for murder. Harri is naturally distraught, and loves Frankie enough to fight for him, to fight for the band, and investigate the murder in order to clear his name.

But she does not act alone.

Behind the scenes of the often-explored complex love between fan and celebrity is something even greater, and that’s the love between fans.

Harri has a circle of friends who love her. They come from all over the place, Berlin, London, and potentially LA. These girls who in any other time period would have never met, find each other in the comments of one of Frankie William’s Instagram posts.

For me, this is the book’s strongest message.

Being a fan isn’t just fantasising about the different ways you can potentially meet your favourite boyband member (although there is a bit of that) it’s finding a community around you. It’s building a circle of love, friends that will fight for you because they understand your interests and most importantly they understand you.

To be a fan is to love openly and honestly, and to share that love with the people around you. There is a misconception that fandom is a lonely hobby, but it’s a lot more. Behind every fanfiction, every bit of fanart, every video, there is a host of comments from the most supportive and wonderful people on the internet.

The Boyband Murder Mystery isn’t just a novel about a group of fangirls trying to solve a murder but it’s a celebration of fandom at its heart. Of not underestimating friendships forged in twitter replies, or teenage girls with a wealth of knowledge of boybands and all the love in the world.



(This book is absolutely incredible and has all the heart in the world and I highly, highly recommend.)

[Fizah(Books tales by me) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You all know I started reading Mysteries/Thrillers last year and after that, I didn't stop. I am a sucker of YA mysteries. When I saw this I had to read it and fortunately, Netgalley approved it. 

I started this book with high expectation, although I am a fangirl of fictional characters I thought It won't make a difference. But I was wrong, I struggled hard to get connected to any of the characters, I couldn't feel the spark or relation between fans and the boys, and I am sure it was the writing and character development that didn't let me connected to the book. Harri is so unlikeable character and narrator, She is selfish, immature and has a superiority complex. She made it so hard to enjoy the book.

Another big problem was that I couldn't find the mystery. This book more focused on Harri and her misbehaviours than the so-called mystery. The plot was bland and didn't succeed in getting my attention because there was nothing to enjoy.

Stef/Steph and Harri relationship were half-baked and it was totally filler part of the story.

In short, It wasn't a mystery, it was a story of a self-obsessed girl who is trying to prove her superiority to people.

[gabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

the fanfiction you find at 9pm on a sunday night

[Emerson Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars, 3 DNF's

"Never underestimate the dedication of a crazed fan/*spoiler*manager"
"the main character was so annoying and unbearable that at some points I wished I was the one thrown off the roof"
"In terms of fandom culture, this is an interesting commentary on the toxic versus healthy parts of fandom"
"if I um...wait. If this were to happen in real life and if I could break jungkook out of prison i would."
"maybe would have been fun in concept but i was too depressed to actually read the book."
"wish i never suggested it"
"reading this made me want to throw myself off of a roof"

[Lauren James]

An action-packed, thoughtful take on fan culture, this is a story that has something important to say about the intelligence, creativity and dedication of fans. It was so interesting to read while I'm working on my own fandom murder mystery, An Unauthorised Fan Treatise. Ava and I come at the fandom space from slightly different spaces, but I think we're equally in awe of the power of teenage girls.

[Taylor Healy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not get behind this book. At. All. I thought the concept of this book had so much promise but it just failed to deliver.

The Boyband Murder Mystery is about a young lady named Harri, who adores this band called Half Light - specifically the lead singer, Frankie Williams. Suddenly, the rug is pulled from under her, as Frankie Williams is arrested on suspicion of murdering his best friend, Evan. Springing into action, Harri, along with her best friends Jas and Alex, are determined to prove that Frankie is innocent. What follows is the most infuriatingly naïve, incredulous plot I have read in a long time.

This book had potential and I feel like it just... Never amounted to anything. However, I think it did touch on a couple of topics sensitively, such as Jas discussing her sexuality and race/identity, and Harri testing the waters with her potential love interest at University. I also really enjoyed Jas' and Stefan's character - I enjoyed the scenes with them in it the most, and I just wish we could have seen more of Stefan. Eldred certainly did her research into fandom culture and had a very good grasp of how all-consuming being a 'stan' can be.

However, I couldn't stand Harri. Her character made no sense to me. This plotline would have suited a thirteen-year-old protagonist as I remember how obsessed I was with my pop idols at that age, but certainly not at eighteen when I had just started University. I was well past that period of my life. But, God, Harri was just obsessed, to the point where I groaned every time she mentioned that 'she just knew Frankie better than anyone', I mean, how naïve and pathetic can you be? Every thought Harri had was about Frankie, or the band, and she just could not think of anything else.

I also just wish there had been a genuinely sane character in this book? I mean, bless Stefan for putting up with Harri's erraticness, but I just wish he had been the voice of reason, and just straight up told Harri she was off her rocker. Even Harri's parents didn't seem to care. I just found the whole story line baffling and I just could not get over the fact that Harri was supposed to be eighteen-years-old and a UNIVERSITY STUDENT.

I just, ugh. Sorry, this book just wasn't for me.

[stef · Rating 1 out of 5]

0.5 star

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so annoyed. At this book, at myself. But mostly at Harri for being such an awful person and friend. I won't sugarcoat it; I really disliked this book, as much as I wish I hadn't. The way it was written, the constant need to suspend my disbelief (which I quite frankly did not want to do), and the incredibly bland cast of characters.. everything just irked me. So much.

The Boyband Murder Mystery follows Harri and her friends as they try to solve the murder of Evan Byrd, which his best friend Frankie Williams has been accused of. The twist? Frankie is the lead singer of Half Light, an international boyband sensation of which Harri & Co. are dedicated Stans™, and they're hell bent on proving he didn't do it. The premise of this sounded so fun and, as someone who has dedicated many years of her life to being a One Direction Stan™, something I could really relate to and enjoy. Did I do either of those things? No, I did not. And, like I said, I'm really annoyed about it.

Let's start with something that was, and still is, bothering me: I have no idea what demographic this is written for. Yeah sure, it's YA. But is that 12 year old YA? Or 18 year old YA? Because Harri is the most childish and naive 19 year old I have ever come across and it's jarring. I used to think the same way Harri does; that no one knows 'the boys' the way the fans do. But I was 12 years old, and Harri is 19. She constantly puts her obsession with the band above her own personal relationships and, despite how high a pedestal she puts herself on, acts like the very same self-centred and delusional stalkers she condemns. And it makes her so unlikeable. The other characters aren't much better, with most of them being throwaway cardboard cutouts that I honestly couldn't care less about (seriously, who is Ruby?). I only liked Stef because we share the same name, and the poor guy was constantly being blown off because Harri was taking the whole lol ur not *celebrtiy name* trend from 2013 a little too literally.

The mystery aspect of this also wasn't the greatest. The 'big reveal' felt like something out of a fanfic I read when I was 14 (this is not a compliment, unfortunately) and it was such an underwhelming and unsatisfying climax. The fact that a lot of the mystery unfolded because Harri & Jas were somehow able to get in contact with these people who were supposedly incredibly famous? On an international scale?..... yeah, it doesn't add up. Someone with a couple million followers isn't going to see your message and respond within seconds, as much as we all wished they would. This isn't a fantasy, but it sure as hell feels like one.

I wish I could end this review on a lighter note, and tell you something that I enjoyed about this book, but I don't normally like anything about the books I give 1 star. The ending was almost good in a bittersweet way, but it was ruined because of how unsubtle this book is about everything it does. It's hard to appreciate whatever is being said about fan culture when it's immediately pointed out with such little grace that it actually becomes irritating. It hurts my little 1D heart to say this, because I had such high hopes, but I really can't recommend The Boyband Murder Mystery to anyone. I can only hope that, if you do pick it up, you at least have a better time reading it than I did.

[ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this book because i’m a fangirl myself (directioner) and i wanted to see how we are portrayed in a book.
i actually saw myself a lot in how harri thought about the boys (not all aspects though omg).
i mean it was quite unrealistic - obviously it’s a book - but i had an amazing time reading it.
the ending almost made me cry because if you know you know (18 months) it just hit different. the way the feeling of having something so special in your life was perfectly explained and it just hit a little too close to home.

thank you one direction for giving me exactly that feeling.

yours sincerely,
ella
(again, iykyk)

[Amanda Almén · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harri och hennes kompisar lever för bandet Half Life. De kan allt om medlemmarna, om vad de tycker om, vad de har för kläder, vilket crew de omger sig av... Så när en av bandmedlemmarna häktas misstänkt för mord blir tjejerna vansinniga. Det är helt enkelt omöjligt att den perfekte pojkbandssångaren skulle kunna genomföra något sådant. De bestämmer sig för att ta tag i saken och skipa rättvisa för den dömde sångaren en gång för alla.

Det här var en bok som jag tror är fantastisk för alla fangirls där ute. Och ganska ointressant för alla andra...

Huvudkaraktärerna är nämligen så _världsfrånvända_. Jag kan omöjligt relatera, även om jag gör mitt yttersta: jag förstår inte resonemanget de för eller logiken i det de menar sig ha rätt till eller som de anser till varje pris nödvändigt. Författaren har förstås en vision om att visa vilka risker det finns med att tillskriva egenskaper till eller frammana känslor för människor som praktiskt taget bara gör sitt jobb och spelar en roll. Samtidigt vill hon visa hur drivna den här typen av fans kan vara och hur långt man kan komma med hjälp av övertygelse som drivkraft.

The Boyband Murder Mystery är Ava Aldreds debut och till viss del märks det. Hon gör en del försök att ge Harri, huvudkaraktären, some quirks (hon gör exempelvis listor över pros and cons med saker hon ska ta sig för, och spelar in fanfiction där hon fantiserar över olika sätt att träffa pojkarna i bandet) men de stör läsningen snarare än förstärker något härligt i hennes karaktär, kan jag tycka. Jag kan sträcka mig till att idén var god men att genomförandet hade behövs stramats åt en aning.

För mig var den ok, men inte mer. Den får två blodfläckade t-shirtar av fem möjliga.

[Roz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Boyband Murder Mystery is a well written and easy to read YA book with good likeable characters, a murder to be solved and a heavy dose of boyband fandom.

Harri and her many friends live all over the world but bond because of their absolute worship of the band Half Light. Most of the friends have never met, but know everything about the boys and the band and their love of them takes over their lives. When one of the band, charismatic lead singer Frankie, is arrested on suspicion of the murder of his best friend Evan it looks like this is the end for Half Light.

Together Harri and best friend Jas combine efforts to clear Frankie’s name and with other fangirls piece together what happened on the roof of the building that Evan fell (or was pushed) off.

Although this is a book about fandom it is also about friendship and growing up, realising that the hero worship of these boys is okay but they are just people too with flaws and insecurities. The friendship between Harri and Jas was really well written and not without its issues, just like other teen friendships.

A good read and one that I would recommend. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Steph Ollman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the concept of this book and it was something I could really get into, as a passionate fan of boybands in my younger days (and now, but sadly I have to focus on the boring parts of life too!) . I really liked the focus on what is gained by being a boy band fan and of supportive female friendships between different women.
However, and perhaps I am older than the target audience as I see some of the reviews suggest this is aimed at teenagers, I didn't quite think the book lived up to my expectations. The murder mystery wasn't the focus of the book at all and I felt that the book dragged at times.

[cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars- liked it!

Enjoyable for the most part, and there aren't any major problems with this one. It wasn't anything overly special though, so it couldn't quite get up to a four star mark. I didn't love the MC, but she wasn't horrible. I also didn't understand the "love" (I would call it obsession) with a boyband, as I don't experience that myself, so I couldn't relate to the characters, and found their actions a bit extreme (but I get that it was the point of the book). The mystery & plot were decent, but the twist wasn't shocking. Overall, enjoyable, and I'd recommend if you're looking for a fun YA mystery.

Longer, more specific review below. All main points are in bold if you'd rather skim :)

what I liked:
-the conventions of a good mystery were all there, with little twists and turns and clues that were good. On a scale, I'd give it 3/5; it was good but not anything close to the best ones I've read so far.
-the pacing of good.
-the plot was probably the best part of the book. It was fun, adventurous and a bit wild. Definitely on the dramatic side, with the characters doing risky, illegal-ish things, but it was engaging.
-the friendships were cute.
-a very modern story. It harps on about the positive side of making social media friends, which I have never come across, but welcome.
-the writing was easy to read and had good flow.
-the last line was very clever.


what could've been better:
-Harri, our MC, was quite whiny at times, and could not stop accusing everyone she saw of murder. Honestly, you'd think she'd learn after the first time, but she kept accusing everyone . She was a very standard MC.
-with that said, I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters. They were fun, but nothing more. I didn't relate to them much either, lacking the entire I-LOVE-this-boyband-so-much-it-hurts thing. I probably would've liked this more if I had.
-the romantic side plot (Harri and Stefan) was unnecessary and confusing. Did they get together in the end? I think so, but I can't be sure, with Harri doing her whole push-and-pull act. I think it sidetracked the mystery.
-the mystery, though it had all the conventions, didn't really give the audience a chance to solve it. The only way I can be surprised with the twist is if I had expected it to be someone else, and this didn't give me a chance to expect. It went from one suspicious person, cleared them, then to the next person, and then cleared them. There was no buildup of suspects that I had to chose from, because everyone was cleared as soon as they were suspected. It's not a fatal flaw- the mystery was still fine- but I'm just stating that it doesn't engage the reader as much as it could. It doesn't give us a chance to "solve" it (or just suspect someone) ourselves.
-with that said, the big twist was a little disappointing. I wasn't shocked, because it didn't prove me wrong. It didn't prove me wrong because it didn't give me much to build an expectation on, as mentioned above.
-the writing was fine most of the time, but I didn't like how Harri gave us pros-and-cons lists before big decisions. I don't need to read your entire thought process. In addition to that, I don't need to read about every fantasy Harri had of meeting the Half-Light boys either; I only cared about how they actually met. I understand that the point of this was to contrast, but it was incredibly boring, and so confusing when I first read Kyle's, because the author changed to using the word "you" to refer to the boys, and I had no idea who "you" was referring to when I first read those fantasies.
-in regards to the fantasies- some were a bit too weird for me. Harri "fantasising" about Frankie's funeral? That's a little creepy to me.
-after the big twist, the book dragged. I feel as if it should've wrapped up sooner, I lost interest after the mystery was resolved, and there was still a small chunk of the book left for after.

[Karen Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never found myself being so enamoured with a boyband that I could fully understand the mentality of those who find themselves immersed in the fandom. I know it happens, but there's something inherently worrying for me that people can become so attached to a construct that they come to define themselves by it. The friendships forged in the name of such fandom can, I'm sure, be intense...and perhaps my lack of understanding for such a situation is why I found myself not quite as engaged with this as I hoped to be.
The Boyband Murder Mystery sounds as if it should have all the ingredients for success. A world-famous boyband, a close friend, an inter-group relationship and something alarming that happens which threatens to rock the band to its core should make for an interesting story, but there were times within the story where I found myself not being quite sure what I was reading.
Our main character is Harri, a nineteen year old in her first year at university, who has spent the last five years defining herself by the friendships formed around her love of the boyband Half Light. For Harri, the boys (Frankie, Kyle and Jack) are everything and she - along with the other millions of girls like her - is convinced she knows everything about the boys, would do anything to save them and can't live without them.
When Frankie is arrested on suspicion of murdering his best friend, Evan, nobody can quite believe it. Harri and her best friend Jas - who she has never met, and doesn't really know - are determined that they will use their knowledge of the group to do whatever it takes to prove Frankie's innocence.
Now, a far more interesting story might have been if such a person had murdered someone...but the focus is really on the girls, so we assume he is innocent and watch as they carry out their own investigations - without ever coming across a police officer - and try to work out who is responsible for setting him up.
There's no doubt this was entertaining. The story itself felt crazily far-fetched and I found myself quite irritated by Harri and her inability to interact with anyone in the flesh - but it was a good way to while away a few hours. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this before its publication.

[Eeva · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept of this book is really solid, but the execution fails on every line.

For a book literally called "Murder Mustery" there's surprisingly little of the actual murder mistery. There's a lot of Harri (the protagonist) throwing accusations at everyone, though.
Talking about Harri. I totally get being obsessed with a band/artist and thinking that only WE REALLY KNOW THEM (which we obvs don't, duh), but being that obsessed for 19yo girl is just weird, unhealthy and, again, weird.
Harri in general is super unlikable, obnoxious to her partents and her friends and I'm actually surprised that she has any friends left at the end of the book. If my so-called-friend accused me of murder I wouldn't be quite so forgiving, to put it mildly.
Her "thing" with Stef is just a page filler and has no reason to even take up so many pages, since it does nothing to the plot. I hope it'll be either changed/expanded or deleted entirely in the finished version.

The other characters are lukewarm at best and I had zero feeling for them.
As for the "famous" characters, I honeslty can't believe that anyone famous would even see (not to mention reply) to Harri's instagram message, since I'm more than sure these things don't happen. Like, just imagine being a celebrity, getting hundreds (if not thousands) messages daily and seeing and replying to some rando's murder accusations. Sure.

Unfortunately this book is just made out of numerous coincidences and unprobable situations. Then we have the big reveal, which is not exactly surprising.

I'm honestly very disappointed with this book, as the blurb souded amazing and I just love YA mysteries.



I received this book from the Publisher in an exchange for an honest review

[Jade Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy bands… am I right?
This ya mystery centres around Harri, a uni student and super fan of the boyband Half Light. It’s this very band that has connected Harri with her very best friends from all over the world. So naturally when Frankie, Half Light frontman, is accused of murder, it’s down to Harri and her little internet gang to solve the mystery and clear Frankie’s name. Risky moves and illegal activity ensue between the chaos of their own lives unfolding as Harri and her friends hurry to uncover the truth. But will digging this deep turn up answers the girls are ready for, or will they realise that sometimes people are just keeping up appearances…
I absolutely adored this book! I couldn’t put it down and found the girls experiences very relatable particularly as my own experience with starting uni was far from what I expected. I think that the dynamics of Harri’s friendships developed over long term love of a mutual thing is something we can all relate to when we find friends online we connect with so well and can’t help but bare our souls to. It’s magnetic and beautifully put and despite the trials and tests the girls face in the dangers of what they’re uncovering, their unwavering loyalty and sense of unity was so lovely to see. I think it was a great blast from the past, reminding me of my own experience with boy bands and how friendships developed and changed overtime. Combined with the sleuthing and scheming to prove Frankie was innocent made for a great, easy to read page Turner I’d happily read again. 4/5

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew that I would enjoy this one because I am also a band fangirl, so I was instantly intrigued by the premise, which definitely made me think about what I would do in Harri’s situation. Harri’s love for the band is so tangible throughout, and because her loyalty to them is so clear from the beginning in a way which felt so real, I myself started feeling invested in the band. The murder mystery element was so much fun to try and solve, I loved how everything slowly came together in a way which I was not expecting.

The book showcases the power of a fandom, and how the fans make the bands that they adore so much. But, it also showed how a band can bring people together from all walks of life, and create life-long friendships. The female friendships in this book were wonderful. I adored how the girls had each other’s backs and supported each other throughout when things were looking bleak for their band. Jas in particular was a great friend to Harri, she was probably my favourite character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend if you’re a fangirl yourself looking for a fun contemporary read with a plot (and a boyband) to easily invest in.

[Zanna R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jag gillade tanken kring denna bok. Fans som gör allt för sina idoler - det låter ju så bra, eller hur? Stundvis var den också bra. Men större delar av boken saknar jag en känsla av samhörighet till någon av karaktärerna; okej Jas är typ den jag på riktigt fastnar för, men jag får aldrig lära känna henne (eller någon annan) tillräckligt mycket för att knyta ordentliga band.
Harri & Stefs relation kändes mer som utfyllnad än att det gav något av värde. Och jag skulle inte kalla denna bok för mystery eller thriller.

MEN; den är på intet sätt dålig! Tvärtom. Bortser man från det faktum att man inte får det där spännande mysteriet som man lovats, så är den faktiskt bra. Kärleken som dessa fangirls känner för Half Light är så stark och skapar så starka vänskapsband att de inte ens behöver träffas för att bli bästa vänner. Hur fint ändå? Och jag tror att många kan känna igen sig lite i det där. Vänskapen som blir genom ett gemensamt, brinnande intresse! Jag menar; är det inte därför många av oss här inne på Bookstagram har blivit vänner? Vi delar kärleken för böcker, precis som de i denna bok delar kärleken till bandet Half Light 💛

[Katey Lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect mystery for fangirls everywhere!

I adored this story of friendships formed through a shared love of a band (Half Light, who I wish were real!) and the lengths that fans will go to. So much of Harri and Jas's friendship (along with the others in their gang spread across the country and the globe) is relatable to anyone who has followed a band in the social media age and Ava Eldred really understands what it is to share these bonds, as is evident from the nuanced observations throughout.

The girls devotion to the band leads them into the inner circle as they become more and more determined to prove the innocence of frontman Frankie Williams, who is being investigated in relation to a murder. Through ups and downs they persevere, determined to clear Frankie's name, and perhaps uncovering more than they would have liked along the way.

But although the mystery is great, it's the female friendships that are the very foundation of this book. Robin Stevens meets Rainbow Rowell in this story of fandom, fame and murder.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
as a murder mystery, i thought this was just an ok book. the clues come so easy to them, harri accuses people wrongly quite a lot and the police seemed to not care so much about how some evidence was obtained.. BUT: it was fun!

Also, the focus of the book was to delve into the life of a girl in a fandom, and it delivered well. As part of a fandom myself (even if not in extreme level as these girls), it was nice to see the good parts of a fan club, the highlights of the power it has and the joy it brings to the people that are part of it. The description of the unique feeling of being in a crowded stadium knowing that you’re part of something bigger that just a band was so nice to read about, and to see it portrayed in a non-condescending way.

I didn’t really feel super connected to any of the girls — or anyone in the band — in particular, but it didn’t impede the connection to the message in general. To top it off, the writing flowed so easily, in a great balance of description, relevant dialogue and well-made exposition. An enjoyable experience for sure!

[isabella lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love being a fangirl and i loved this book

a true love letter to fangirls and to the friendships made through being a fan of something. absolutely adored this book especially as someone who has always been such a fangirl of bands/artists/theatre and met my best friends through being fans

cried at the ‘outro’ (epilogue) because it truly epitomised exactly how being a fan feels and the feeling of being at a concert. just wow i have no words i loved it so much

the second book ive read by ava eldred and i loved it just as much, she will definitely be an instant buy author for me!!!!

fully recommend this to anyone who’s ever been a fan of anything

[abi ⁠✿⁠ ⁠♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was tumblr fanfiction that you stumble across at 2am and cannot stop reading and think it's the best thing since sliced bread and it completely alters your viewpoint on fiction because nothing could be better than this - until the harsh light of daybreak interrupts you and you take a shameful look in the mirror with bags around your eyes, your blanket pulled up over your head, and your screen lighting up your face but you have absolutely zero regrets because this is what fandoms are all about.

[sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

felt like a Y/N insert because i just KNOW this stuff would never happen in real life, like come on now. it’s like saying that park jimin is hanging out in my room and we’re casually chatting and catching up on life. if i could rename the title of this i’d call it “unrealistic high jinks and shenanigans” tsk tsk.

[Donna Mouser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ended up being a love letter to fangirls and the online communities we create and the friendships we curate.

To all my fangirls on this page, I thought of you while reading about Harri and Jas and Ruby and Alex and Gemma’s bond from thousands of miles away.

Also the author called Harry Styles out in her thank you notes so 💅🏻💅🏻

[Amaris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine, theres honestly nothing wrong with this book I enjoyed reading it and think its great if you wanna start getting into mysterys. But this book isn't for me its a good extra book to read but nothing major.

[Stephanie Burton · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you don’t want to read the rant below then here’s a quick summary: this book was terrible, do not read it (unless you are a toxic fan who feels they know everything about the celebrity they like).

Where do I start? I only actually read about 100 pages properly, then I just skim read the rest so I could find out who killed Evan. The actual plot had potential, but the main character was so unlikeable it just made me hate the book completely. Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever felt as much hatred for a character in a book as I felt for Harri while I was reading this. She was one of those people who puts others down just to make herself look better, even if those people were supposed to be her best friends. She accused people of murder even when it made zero sense, she ignored pretty much anyone who wasn’t useful to her or to the investigation and she effectively put the group before everything and everyone in her life (which to me is quite sad).

Before I go into my complains about the ‘fans’ and how they acted, I do want to say that I am a fan of many boy groups myself and I would NEVER act the way these people acted, so shush and listen. First of all I’m not a huge fan of becoming friends with strangers over the internet because stranger danger and cat fishing (you know the drill but it makes me very nervous so I never do it). However I do understand that in times of need the fandoms of certain groups are there for each other and it’s all very wholesome and nice, but generally these people can be quite nasty. In a situation like the one described in this book, I doubt there would be as many nice people as the book portrayed and there would be a hell of a lot more negativity. But anyway that’s beside the point. I think what I hated most about the fans in this book was the way they truly believed they knew everything about the members of the band. It makes me feel sorry for the fans when they think they know their ‘celebrity crush’ or ‘idol’ more than anyone else, it’s almost as though they don’t realise that the members of any group have a reputation to uphold (a reputation that has most likely been created for them by the company they are under). What you see is generally not going to the the real deal as much as you would like to think it is. Now I know there are exceptions to this rule but generally anyone who truly believes that they know everything about a celebrity is delusional. Yes there are general facts that are very easy to find out and I understand feeling that you know how that person would act in certain situations, but you’ve never actually met these people, you’ve never even had a conversation with them before so how can you claim to know them so well (and well enough to get them out of prison too) ?? The whole idea just doesn’t click with me. Also in the book, the fans would constantly talk about how they stayed outside the group’s house to watch for them leaving and coming back (is that even legal ??) and it just genuinely scared me how this was completely normalised. Some fans don’t seem to realise that these people are still human beings and deserve their own privacy and space and this book did not highlight this issue which I really think it should have. Oh also something that I do think should be mentioned is the way Harri and Jas objectified the members and talked about having sex with them. How frickin messed up is that? Absolutely should not have been there and anyone that thinks this way in real life should be ashamed of themselves.

Another part of the story that I found baffling was the fact that the other members didn’t really bat an eyelid at the illegal things fans were doing to help them, they just kind of shrugged it off and went along with it and it just wouldn’t happen in real life. The police force were made out to be a set of incompetent idiots (outsmarted by a couple of 18 year old fans, well that’s embarrassing) but the whole reveal was so obvious!! The only reason the main characters found out about who killed Evan was because someone’s alibi didn’t check out, but isn’t that literally the police’s job to check that???? Also breaking into someone’s house is a big no no for me; I don’t care if it helped you find the evidence you needed, it is very much illegal.

The whole point of the story was to free one of the members from prison by proving he didn’t kill his best friend and I was very hopeful for this plot but it was executed so poorly. If the author had solely focused on figuring out the mystery rather than all the extra crap with Harri in between then it maybe would’ve been more enjoyable, but it still wouldn’t make it five stars. There was no character development either! I at least wanted the main characters to learn something from this whole mess, like maybe realise that you don’t always know everything about a person and what’s going on in their life but no they were effectively praised for committing illegal acts.

I don’t know, no part of this book worked for me if I’m being honest. As a fan of many boy groups I was hoping to relate to some parts of the story or to get on board with the whole idea of what they were doing, but I just couldn’t. I was incredibly disappointed.

Okay rant over!

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think my favourite part of the book was the friendship dynamic. Maybe a bit biased cause I’m reading a book about internet friends while at a internet friend, but it was a fun story

[ionela-rodica · Rating 5 out of 5]

That ending broke me in so many ways, tho, i get it why it ended like that. Pure perfection!💕
Also, the power that a fandom holds🤌🔥✨️

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

tre stjärnor fast liksom de bästa tre stjärnorna, dramat va jätteunderhållande och lyckades nästan gottgöra hur irriterande huvudkaraktären var

[booktokmademedoit · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3,5/5⭐️

A bit predictable and unrealistic at times but overall a quick and enjoyable read about a non-toxic fandom solving a murder case.